


More Than Just Your Shadow

by Jumpyrope



Category: Corpse Party (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I edited out the main rape/noncon tag because it isn't the focus, It's mainly just about ayushiki but other characters talk and stuff, also if you're thinkin either of the two mains here are doing the noncon its def not that, ayumi and Yoshiki are Good People, it gets a little bit graphic but not explicit level, just be warned for chapter two if the subject really bothers you, kinda., rape/noncon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-11-20 22:17:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11344212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jumpyrope/pseuds/Jumpyrope
Summary: Yoshiki Kishinuma is not a stalker.Well, he is, but not one of the bad ones. He follows her because he wants to know more about her, and keep her safe in the streets.He's sure she would never understand, though.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yoooooo The phrase "Yoshiki Kishinuma is not a stalker" popped into my head randomly and I thought it sounded like a pretty awesome beginning to a sometimes morally grey fanfiction. This chapter is safe for work, like, the worst thing is the mention of The Big Titties. Anyway I'm going on to much just enjoy ;u;

Yoshiki Kishinuma is not a stalker. 

Well, he is, but he's not a bad one. He doesn't follow her because he wants to get her alone, to memorize her usual route home so he could ambush her, to stare at her through the window while she's changing. That's all something a pervert would do. And he is not a pervert, he follows because he cares. 

But she would never understand that. 

Ayumi Shinozaki is his star, his light in the darkness, his ripe and juicy strawberry in a patch of rotten fruit. She saved his life and didn't even realize it, and Yoshiki is eternally grateful. 

Perhaps it is an obsession, a fixation. Yoshiki doesn't care. Before, his reasons for living were to spite his parents, keep a budget for a steady stream of cigarettes, and beat down any asshole who got too high and mighty. Going to school was just a strange instinct. His parents at least payed for his schooling and helped him a little with the bills on his tiny apartment by sending him a monthly check for 5,000¥. At least he wasn't completely disowned. 

But then one fateful day in the gym equipment closet, she saved him. Yoshiki was real close to satisfying his third reason for living, as that damn teacher dumped shit on him with his words. He really wanted to give that guy a new face with his knuckles, but then her voice caught both of them off guard. 

She was annoying, initially. All hoity-toity and proper talking to the teacher, even smiling as the creep hit on her. But she got him to leave, and as soon as he turned his back, her demeanor changed.   
"God, I hate that ass." She grumbled, once wide and friendly eyes narrowing. Then, the narrowed eyes turned to Yoshiki, and he swears his heart skipped a beat.   
"You were going to hit him, weren't you?" She asks, though Yoshiki is smart enough to recognize a rhetorical question, even if he can never remember the word "rhetorical." Still, he answered with a nod.   
"I can't entirely blame you." She sighed, jutting a hip out and crossing her arms. Yoshiki's shoulders relaxed, only to be stiffened again by her shooting a judging look at him.   
"But you can't be such an idiot." 

Yoshiki didn't know how to respond, but he didn't have to as she continued.   
"Do you want to get kicked out of school? I've seen you around before. You don't have a good track record." He can't say she's wrong.   
"But still, that's no reason to go ruining your life. Look, I don't want to see you expelled." She explained, and even though she wasn't being exactly kind about it, her words made his heart sing. She doesn't want to see him expelled. She cared about him and his wellbeing.   
"Go to class, pay attention, do your homework, and for god's sake don't punch the teachers, no matter how shitty they are." She isn't asking him to do these things, she's commanding him. But there's something inspirational about it.   
"You can do it. Just try, you're capable of that." And then, she turned around and began to walk away. Yoshiki wanted to stop her, but he didn't know what he would even say. She turns back to look one last time.   
"Oh, I've gotta get going. Remember what I said, okay?" 

Ever since that day, he's felt a renewed sense of purpose. He barely even knew her, but that moment he swore that he would always protect this girl no matter what. 

His teachers were surprised. Yoshiki never did this much work before! Sure, it was still kind of crappy and half assed, but half an ass is more than 1/4 of an ass. He started hanging out with Satoshi Mochida more, and by extension basically everyone else in the class. There was something about Satoshi that drew people to him. Yoshiki didn't see it, but then again, something drew himself to the rather plain yet handsome looking boy. 

In any case, Satoshi had a lot of friends. He somehow got the aloof theatre geek Sakutaro Morishige to talk to him, and it turned out the guy was pretty cool, in a weird way. Yoshiki discovered that even though he looks completely collected, Morishige was a total dork like the other two boys. An extension of Morishige came another friend in a sweet, petite girl named Mayu Suzumoto. She was inarguably cute, and really nice too. He would wonder why she didn't have a boyfriend, but soon the strange familial and romantic relationship between her and her bespectacled friend became clear. He couldn't quite figure out what the deal was with those two, but they seemed happy, so he didn't care. 

Satoshi had more friends than just them, of course. Naomi Nakashima was a knockout kind of girl, but really it was only because of her bust and shapely body. Yoshiki wasn't attracted or anything really, he can just appreciate a hot bod when he sees one. Besides, the girl had it obviously hard for Satoshi. The two would argue and bicker and then say sweet things to each other, it was obvious Satoshi fell for her too. 

Almost always next to Naomi came another girl. Seiko Shinohara. Yoshiki didn't exactly know how to explain Seiko. She was loud, bubbly, and kind of inappropriate sometimes. She was pretty great. It was strange to see someone just blurt out what she was thinking, and people still like her. Even like her because she was so honest and hid nothing. He didn't quite understand why it was fun when she did it but weird when he did. Hm, probably something to do with the titties, he supposes. 

And then there was her. His savior. Ayumi Shinozaki hung out with his best bro too. He couldn't believe the luck that they would end up in the same friend group! He immediately thanked whatever gods, if there even were any gods, for the chance to get closer to her. 

Ayumi didn't seem to remember the moment in the gym closet at first, but when she did, her eyes lit up.   
"You actually listened!" She said joyfully, and it made Yoshiki feel prouder than anything his parents ever said to him.   
"I thought you'd just shrug my advice off because I'm class pres and keep on.... delinquenting." She stumbled on the last word, looking confused at herself. Yoshiki couldn't hold back a bark of laughter that caused her to look more embarrassed.   
"Delinquenting? Pres, you're ridiculous." He laughed, and she puffed out her cute cheeks in annoyance.   
"Shut up! Shakespeare made up words all the time so why can't I?" She countered, glaring at him. He just laughed more.   
"Whatever you say, pres." Yoshiki replies, idly scratching his forehead. Ayumi rolls her eyes and folds her arms, looking away.   
"I have a name besides class president, you know."   
"Okay then, Ayumi." Yoshiki responds without a worry. Though, there were plenty of worries from Ayumi. 

Her eyes widen in surprise and embarrassment before taking on a more pissed off look. It was kind of adorable, even if she is yelling at him.   
"Not my first name, you dolt! Shinozaki will do just fine!" She stares him down until he puts his hands up in surrender, agreeing.   
"Alright alright, Shinozaki it is then." He drops his hands back to his side as she relaxes. "You can call me whatever you want, by the way. Yoshiki is just fine by me."  
"Alright, Kishinuma-kun." She responds, pointedly not using his first name. His hopes were dashed, but he was still happy. How could he not be happy when he talked to the girl of his dreams? 

There were many conversations between them after that. Yoshiki discovered that Ayumi was not fond of the nickname "Shi-chan" he decided to give her. He discovered that she likes to keep small white candles in her pockets. He discovered her love of occult stuff and her purposefully mysterious secrecy behind a lot of questions he asked about it. He discovered that she liked to scare people, and the bigger reactions made her smile wider. 

He also discovered that she was in love with his best friend. 

It was painfully obvious with the way she would look at him, make sure to single him out when talking about the entire group, and do a lot of things to try and get closer to him. 

"Mochida! Would you want to group up with me for this project?" She would say, her voice in that purposeful higher pitch that girls use when talking to boys they like for some weird reason.   
"Oh, sorry Miss President, I already agreed to work with Yoshiki. But maybe the teacher would let us work in groups of three?" Satoshi would respond, completely oblivious or artfully ignoring her flirty way she stood with her hands on his desk.   
"No, it's alright. This class has an even number of people, it would just mess up the order." Her face would droop, her tone getting a bit deeper. Yoshiki hoped that it was really because of the class number, and not just because she would rather not be around him, even if it meant being with Satoshi. 

His desk was right in front of hers in their classroom. Yoshiki cursed the seating chart. Sure, he was close to her, but he couldn't stare at her in class if she was directly behind him! Still, he made the most of it. 

"Hey." He whispered head tilted back to look at her upside down.   
"Hey." He says again as she ignored him the first time.   
"Hey, Shinozaki." He says for a third time, causing her to finally sigh and look at him.   
"Kishinuma I am trying to finish this worksheet." She says, looking thoroughly done with him already.   
"Yeah, me too." He responds, patting around on his desk to find the paper that he's barely worked on.   
"Then what are you doing besides making yourself lightheaded from your position?" She purses her lips in annoyance, staring him down. 

Yoshiki pulls the paper from his desk and shows it to her.   
"I need help." He says, pointing with his other hand at no particular point on the paper. Ayumi sighs again and pulls the worksheet from his hands, starting to look at it while she grumbles.   
"You know it would be easier for you to just turn around to talk to me." She comments, then her eyes widen. "Kishinuma! You've barely finished the second question!" She exclaims quietly.   
"Yeah, like I said, I need help. I'm stuck." He replies, giving his best begging face.   
"Kishinuma it's been thirty minutes since we started working." She says blankly, looking at him with derision.   
"I need a lot of help?" He replies uselessly, giving her a small grin. Ayumi scoffs and pushes his head off her desk so he sits up straight facing forward again. 

Yoshiki blinks as his head spins a little from being upside down, eyes chasing those little sparks in the corners of his vision. A voice behind him snaps him out of his daze.   
"Kishinuma? What are you sitting there for, turn around so I can help." When he figures out what Ayumi is saying, he spins around quickly, tucking his legs up onto the chair so he's kneeling facing back at her. She only raises an eyebrow at his expression, thinking he was like an excited dog.   
"Okay, so you've been doing this all wrong. Let's start back and redo the first one...." 

Sure, her feelings for him were mostly annoyance, but even her glares made him fall further.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes a bad thing leads to a good thing. Sometimes a good thing leads to a bad thing. Sometimes two bad things do bad things to a good thing. Sometimes you just have to look at the world and say "how dare you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alert alert this chapter contains foul language and not so subtle rape/noncon elements. I'd love for a lot of people to read my stuff, but if you can't handle this topic I really suggest you don't read it to avoid being upset. Just want to cover my bases, yknow. Ain't gonna make you sign a waver but read on at your own risk

Summer break sucks. Sure many people love getting away from school. But for Yoshiki, no class meant he saw less of his friends, especially a certain someone. He didn't know what Ayumi did on break, or if she was even around or on vacation. 

Besides, it's hot. Even with a fan on and the window open, his room felt suffocating. With a sigh, Yoshiki decided to get out of the apartment and do something. 

Walking down the street in some plain shorts and a t-shirt, his sandals making slappy noises on the pavement as he walked. Yoshiki pulled out a pack of cigarettes and looked at them. It wasn't the usual time he felt the need to smoke, but he considered if that really mattered. He looked at the pack before putting it away again. His throat was dry enough from the heat, he didn't need smoke coating his insides on top of that. 

Yoshiki considered buying a water bottle at the convenience store or something, then wondered if he would get discounts or free stuff off the shelves because he worked there part time. He sighed. It sounded good, but the store was the opposite way he was walking now, and he didn't feel like just turning around. So, he just let his feet carry him around. 

He really didn't mean to end up at her house, but here he was. Yoshiki stayed a distance away so it would be hard to see him if one looked out the windows in the house. He saw that there was a car in the driveway and figured that meant that the Shinozakis were still home. He smirked a little unconsciously. 

Yoshiki just stood there for a few minutes, staring up at an open window on the second floor. There was no traffic on the street, foot or vehicle. No one around to see him leaning against a wall and staring at a house like a robber or.... stalker. He shook the thought from his mind. No, stalker had bad connotations (he felt a swell of pride remembering the word connotations) and he wasn't doing bad things. He was just curious. 

The sound of a door snapped him out of his thoughts he quickly backed up more to a better hiding spot and looked on. The front door of the Shinozaki household was open, and out stepped none other than Ayumi Shinozaki herself. Yoshiki had to stop himself from gasping. He had never seen her in so little clothing before. She was in a red spaghetti strap tank top, black athletic short shorts, and tennis shoes. Yoshiki makes a note in his head that she looks really good in red, and another note that her legs were very very nice. 

Ayumi pushes the hair on her forehead back with a sigh, and with a hop-step, starts to jog down the street. Staying far enough behind, Yoshiki walks after her. She heads off onto the main road and he continues. It didn't look like he was following her, he's sure. There were plenty of people walking the same direction he was. 

Ayumi turns a corner onto a street that Yoshiki tries to avoid ever since she told him to clean up his act. There were some pretty strong dudes that hang out around there, and he's heard news of a lot of mugging around these parts. He walks faster. 

While he was moving closer to keep up with her but maintain a decent distance, he started to worry that from an outside perspective it would look like he had some sorts of filthy ideas in his head. He didn't see many people on the street though, and everyone was minding their own business, so he just continued on. 

Yoshiki was sort of mesmerized by the way her twin-tails bounced behind her as she jogged. He had a weird thought that he wanted to tug on them one day. He tried not to think any more about it. Ayumi turns another corner into an alley, not missing a beat. Yoshiki wonders if she takes this route often. He keeps his pace, knowing that she'll be the same distance ahead of him around the corner. 

Yoshiki reaches the corner and stops. There was some sort of noises coming from the alley. Voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying. He looks around the corner, but sees no one. At first he is relieved, but then fear strikes him. There was no way Ayumi was moving fast enough to reach the other side of the alley! He quick walks forward, the voices becoming a little more clear. 

Men's voices, he can tell by the gruffness. A lisping "S" noise sticks out and his heart sinks. It had to be that big-teethed bastard and his bald crony. Yoshiki narrows his eyes and continues a little more carefully. Caution is thrown to the wind when he hears another muffled voice. Less of a voice really and more of a quiet sob. Female, or a really young boy. But considering who just jogged stupidly down into the dark alley, Yoshiki had a pretty good idea who it might be. 

Yoshiki took off in a run towards where he heard them, and found the two buff dudes crouched behind a dumpster. He payed them no mind, looking down instead at the girl with her mouth covered by a big hand, tears falling from her wide blue eyes, and cute red tank top being sliced down the middle with a pocket knife. The men look surprised for a moment, as does Ayumi, but then the bald man stands up, while the other one roughly drags Ayumi to her feet with him, still clamping her mouth shut with a strong hand and cutting down her shirt to reveal her soft belly. 

"What, is this your little girlfriend? You want to protect her, huh. How heroic." The bald man says, sneering down at Yoshiki while the blonde glares back up at him. A muffled shriek from Ayumi makes his gaze dart over to her. The monster holding her had cut her shirt completely down the middle, pulling it apart to show off her little white bra. The knife was poised over her stomach, a slight indent at the point as it poked her indicating why she cried out. Yoshiki's hands balled into fists as he took a step forward. 

"You let her go you filthy son of a-" he isn't able to finish speaking or take another step. Baldy had grasped him from behind and held him in a suffocating grip. 

"Or you'll do what~?" The man holding Ayumi mocked, twirling the knife against the girl's stomach while she squeezed her eyes shut, body shaking in terror. Yoshiki couldn't glare harder. 

"I'll fucking kill you is what! How dare you even touch her, you don't deserve to even be near someone like her!" Yoshiki yells before baldy clamps his hand over his mouth. A harsh and gruff "shh" tickles the hair around his ears. Yoshiki kicks his legs to no avail, not noticing the way Ayumi opened her eyes in a surprised look at what he said. 

"Someone like her? She's nothing special. Look at her." The man's lisp does nothing to hinder the venom in his voice. Ayumi sobbed as the knife poked her harder, the pointy tip drawing a little bead of blood that ran down her body and pooled in her belly button. The man continued, bringing the knife up to his mouth and licked the tip to get off the blood with a crazed grin.   
"Her blood is just like any other's. Her body just like any others. But, hmm." He folds the knife up in his hand and sticks it in his pocket before roughly grabbing Ayumi's chest. She squeals, eyes squeezing shut as her face reddens.   
"She seems to be a bit under average, no?" The man grins, picking Ayumi up so her feet stop touching the ground, holding her up with just the hand on her mouth and arm looped under her armpit, the other hand squeezing her breast as if testing the density and size of it. She cries, kicking her legs in a useless attempt to free herself. 

Yoshiki struggles harder, the anger in his chest making him feel as if he was burning from the inside out. How dare he touch her like that! The man reaches for the clasp of Ayumi's bra, right in the front.   
"Do you want to see?" The man says in a teasing tone, snapping it open. Yoshiki squeezes his eyes shut immediately. Of course he wanted to see, he's dreamed of seeing, fantasized about it. But not like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wanted her to show him willingly, all shy and embarrassed but determined. He wanted to caress her and kiss her and tell her she's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. An angry tear falls from his eye. How dare this happen. 

"Aw, no fun." The man whines after Yoshiki closed his eyes. "Guess I'll just have to make fun for myself, hm?" Yoshiki doesn't open his eyes. These men had no qualms about violating her, but he refused to play into their game and let his eyes violate her too. He just has to get out of this grasp. 

He still doesn't open his eyes when Ayumi screams, loud even behind the hand holding her. There is terror behind the noise, pure and ugly terror. Yoshiki never wants to hear that noise ever again. Yet, his wants are always unheard, and this is no different. 

Ayumi screams again, and Yoshiki can only imaging what's happening when the man chuckles as well. He dared not look. The third scream has the anger in Yoshiki exploding.  
How.   
DARE. 

Yoshiki pushes against the restraint of the man's arm holding him, and his own right arm is freed. He pries the hand off his mouth by bending back the pointer finger until he heard a snap and the beast behind him bellowed out in pain, pulling his hand away. Yoshiki smirks.   
"Wimp." 

The injury is distracting enough that the man loosens his grip and Yoshiki breaks free, spinning around and finally opening his eyes now that he wasn't looking in Ayumi's direction. He wastes no time on hesitation before curling his fist and introducing it to the bumpy nose. It was obviously broken before, and Yoshiki is honored to add another fracture to the record. 

Baldy stumbles back as he holds his face, blood dripping through his fingers. Good, it really is broken. Yoshiki spends no time on pity. He gets closer and slams the man in the face once again, this time from the side. And another one head on, his middle knuckle sticking out a bit more to dip into his eye as Yoshiki smashed his face. 

He was going to continue, but the man quickly tried to scrabble away, tripping over himself and falling to continue crawling. The voice behind him pulls him out of his moment of victory. 

"You idiot! How could you let this kid beat you?!" The other man calls out to his fleeing companion. Yoshiki hears a weak yell and a thud against the brick wall, followed by a sob.   
"K-Kishinuma, watch-" Ayumi's warning comes too late, and Yoshiki is hit in the back of the head. The world goes blank and for a moment he feels like he no longer exists, before the dirty pavement on his cheek and the pain in his head remind him that he just face planted after nearly getting knocked out. 

Yoshiki didn't have time to recover, he had to get up and fight. As he struggled to figure out how to use his legs to stand, he finds himself suddenly being lifted up by the collar of his shirt. It chokes him like a noose, and he hears Ayumi call his name. 

Yoshiki swings wildly behind him, trying to hit whatever he can, it does nothing and he finds his face smashed into the wall. He is turned around to face is angry assailant, his hand gripping Yoshiki's neck tightly so he struggled breathing, and is immediately met with a slap that leaves his cheek stinging. He felt lightheaded.   
"You just had to play hero, didn't you!" The man yells directly in Yoshiki's face, so close that hot breath and spit hit him in the face as well. Yoshiki wrinkles his nose at the stench of the man's breath. Mr. Halitosis is not pleased.   
"You just had to come back here, after we warned you, and try to save this stupid girl. I guess you're perfect for each other, you're both idiots." Another smack meets Yoshiki's cheek, just as the pain was starting to dull.   
"I guess tonight there'll be two useless fuckers taken out of this stinkin' world, so maybe I should thank you. Won't be as fun, but I guess it's efficient." He spits in Yoshiki's face. "Have anything to say before I smash your head in?" 

Yoshiki coughs, glaring into the man's muddy green eyes.   
"Ain't useless." He mutters, barely audible.   
"What did you say?" The man asks, narrowing his eyes. Yoshiki spits to the side, mocking the man by being more polite.   
"Said she ain't useless." He clarifies, glare as sharp as the pocket knife that was flipped open in the man's free hand.   
"That's really what you want your last words to be, punk?" He asks, drawing the knife across Yoshiki's red cheek, adding to the already existing sting of being slapped. Sucking in a breath, the blonde and beaten teen tilts his head to look over his assailant's shoulder. There, curled and shaking on the ground, was Ayumi, clutching her torn shirt around her chest as tight as possible. He could tell by the way she was shaking that she was breathing way too fast as she stared at the two fighters with wide, scared eyes. Her gaze flicked up to meet Yoshiki's when she noticed him looking. She didn't say or do anything, just stared. Still, that pretty blue of her eyes swirled it's way into his mind. He closes his eyes to keep it in his memory, thinking of the good times with her. Her rare smile at him, her annoyed face, her sweet blush, even her actual anger had a special place in his heart. Those pretty blues held so much emotion in them, always, and Yoshiki comes to peace with the idea that it would be the last thing on his mind. 

"Well?? You're wasting daylight kid, say something or I'll slit your throat and let you bleed. I'm being pretty damn magnanimous right here, letting you speak. Appreciate it!" Yoshiki payed no attention to the threats, even as the metal pressed against his neck uncomfortably. 

"Hey, Shinozaki." Yoshiki started, trying to smile as he looked towards her again. She had the whisper of his name stuck on her parted lips as she leaned forward to hear. "Take care of Satoshi for me, will ya?" He asked, smiling a supportive smile that was kind of ruined by the pain clear in his face.   
"Kishinuma..." Ayumi whimpered out, curling in on herself further while she cried. 

A press of the flat edge of the knife on his cheek forced Yoshiki to look back at his soon to be killer. The man's eyes were full of a strange form of excitement. An old PSA he was forced to watch in school flashes through his head.   
"Drugs will destroy your mind, kill your morals, let go of your self control. Don't let drugs change who you are." He had rolled his eyes at the time, and still does honestly, but he never thought a drug problem would be the death of him, even if he wasn't the one with the problem. Either that, or this man was genuinely just insane. Yoshiki isn't sure which is worse. 

"Kid, seriously? You know she ain't gonna be taking care of anyone after this. Even if she survives, which I'm contemplating. She is pretty cute, damn good legs too. I bet she's so tight that-" Yoshiki spits in the man's mouth as he tries to talk, surprising him enough that he shuts up.   
"Don't you dare talk about her like that, you shitstain!" Yoshiki yells, the anger at hearing Ayumi slandered like that giving him energy to kick and struggle more, but not enough. 

With a laugh, the man spits to the ground, getting Yoshiki's out of his mouth. Then, he looks back at his captive seriously.   
"You know, I've just about had enough of you. I should know better, I've wasted too much time." The man places the knife on the far side of Yoshiki's neck, pressing in so much it hurts. It isn't hard to realize that he was about to slice him like a cow ready for the slaughter house.   
"Bye bye, blondie. I bet nobody will even miss you." 

Yoshiki closes his eyes, taking a deep breath to steel himself for the blade to cut through him. The pain starts immediately in his neck, the knife cutting in slowly and sliding across. The cut was shallow at first, the man wanting to make it last. 

"NO!!!!"

The scream makes the butcher pause, and that's enough for Ayumi to grab him by the elbow and yank him away. The knife nicked Yoshiki as it was pulled away, but the shallow cut under his chin was nothing compared to the possibility of being completely opened up. He was released, landing on unsteady feet while he covered the gash in his neck with his hand. There was a lot of blood, and he would definitely need stitches, but he could survive with it for now. 

Meanwhile, as he looks up, Ayumi lands a punch on the guy's face, actually knocking him on his ass. All three of them are surprised at the strength of it. However, the big-toothed man started crawling backwards away from her as she stared him down, both hands clenched at her sides. Yoshiki shuddered imagining himself on the receiving end of that deadly glare. Once he was a few yards away, the man stood up and staggered backwards, spitting blood off to the side. He grimaced, and he was actually missing a front tooth. He wiped the blood from his mouth, then pointed the hand at the two of them in a sort of warning before running off. When he was out of sight, Ayumi slumped to her knees, shaking. 

Yoshiki was soon at her side, placing one hand on her shoulder as the other hand was busy holding his neck. She jumped slightly, then looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She shook her head, at a loss for words. So Yoshiki took up the responsibility of breaking the silence. 

"Are you very hurt?" He asks, looking over her body to check for wounds. He doesn't register that she wasn't holding her shirt closed anymore. She does notice, however, and squeaks a little as she pulled away. Her arms tightly cross against her chest as she gives him an accusing look. Yoshiki is confused at first but then his eyes widen when he figures it out.   
"Oh, no no! It wasn't like that, I wasn't- I was checking for cuts n' shit, honest!" He raises his free hand in surrender, a gesture that he makes a lot around her, now that he thinks of it. 

Ayumi's expression fades into worry. She looked him over, just as he did to her. He decided not to comment on it.   
"Whatever 'cuts n' shit' I've got, it's nothing compared to you. Jesus, you look like hell!" She comments, moving closer to reach a hand out to gently touch his cheek where he had been cut and slapped. He winces and she withdraws her hand.   
"Heh, that's too bad. I was hoping I'd look badass all bruised and bloody." He smirks, flirting even at a time like this. It makes her relax more, though.   
"Yeah, you looked totally badass getting stomped on by those braindead lunatics." She teases, fiddling with her hair. Yoshiki notices that one of the hair ties broke, leaving the left side of her hair free.   
"Hey, I was defending your honor, show some respect." He responds jovially. However, Ayumi's face falls and she looks away. Yoshiki's joking demeanor changes too.   
"Hey, uh, Shinozaki... are you okay?" He asked, leaning forward a bit to see her eyes. They looked empty.   
"No." she responds, quietly. Kishinuma frowns, letting out a similarly quiet "oh." 

They sit like that for a moment before Ayumi looks up in desperate worry.   
"Wait, Kishinuma, your neck! Are you-"   
"Yeah I'm fine. Could use a bandage or somethin' though." He cuts her off, removing his shaky hand from his neck to see how bloody it was. Spoiler alert: It was very bloody. Ayumi scoots closer, looking into his eyes, their faces closer together than he thinks they've ever been before. Not even the worried look in her eyes stopped his heart from soaring.   
"We've got to get you to a hospital, like, now!" She says before standing up, forcibly taking his hand and trying to pull him up too. Yoshiki obliges and stands up, but shakes his head.   
"Don't have insurance." He says blankly. He really did not want to be in debt for a hospital visit. Ayumi looks frustrated, but not at him.   
"Damn..." she mutters before a blush rushes over her face. Before he realizes what she's doing, she shrugs the straps of her shirt off her shoulders and holds the ripped clothing in front of her, looking away.   
"H-here. Use this as a bandage." She tightens her lips into a thin line when she stops talking, shaking a little with the embarrassment. Yoshiki's gaze trades between her face and the top a couple times before he takes the offer, looking off to the side as he wraps the fabric tightly around his neck, tying it tight to keep it still. 

Ayumi curls in on herself as he ties her only covering around his neck. Her arms can only hide so much skin, and she feels vulnerable again. When she looks back at Yoshiki, he's staring at her, and she curls further, looking hurt and angry.   
"S-stop staring! Pervert..." he blinks a couple times before blushing, hiding his face behind his hands.   
"Gah, sorry, sorry!" He shakes his head, still hiding behind his hands. "I was just thinkin'-"   
"What? That I'm cute? S-sexy? Slutty? Asking for it? A piece of meat?" The words have less and less venom behind them as she goes on until finally she sobs, tucking her head down as far as possible.   
"Wha- no! Hell no, none of that! Well, I do think you're cute and all but that isn't what I'm saying." He responds, honestly a little horrified at her response. What did that monster do to her? She looks up, confused.   
"I was thinking that you could use my shirt as a coverup, if you don't mind bein' all sweaty and gross smelling." Saying this, he plays with the bottom hem of his shirt. Ayumi looks confused for a few more moments before her expression becomes a soft, thankful smile.   
"You think I don't already smell like sweat and dirt too? Dumbass." She insults him fondly, and he gives her a little smile back before carefully taking his shirt off to avoid messing with his makeshift bandage. When he hands it over, Ayumi's face looks a bit redder than before. She puts it on and hugs her arms around herself immediately, but it's obvious she feels much better. However, there is still something poking at the back of Yoshiki's mind.   
"Shinozaki?" He starts hesitantly.   
"Yeah?" She looks up at him curiously.   
"How much did he..." immediately she stiffens her shoulders and looks uncomfortable.   
"How much did he do to you?" He finishes the question, looking honestly concerned. Ayumi sniffles and turns around away from him.   
"Do you live nearby, Kishinuma?" She asks instead of answering. Yoshiki sighs.   
"Yeah, its a little bit of a walk. You don't want to go home?" He tilts his head, honestly a little confused. She shakes her head.   
"Not like this. I... don't want to worry them. My family. I don't want them to see me like this." Yoshiki nods, understanding her explanation.   
"Aight. My place it is then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was kind of sick writing this stuff. I kinda wanted to make it nastier, but I just couldn't.   
> Things will get better for the duo from here. Hopefully. Comment and kudos fuel my lifeblood.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tired and hurt, two high school kids find a strange new comfort in each other. Feelings are weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmm this is really gay for a straight ship. Gay as in happy, lol. Ehh mostly happy. Enjoy. This particular chapter is rated T for Teen, you don't need parents permission to see swearing and some sexual tension. I think. whatever. Please enjoy, this has been fun to write and I can't wait until someone actually reads this ;u;

"I understand if you're hesitant to use the backstreets, but we're safer that there's two of us. And I don't want to be seen on the main street like this, I dunno about you." Yoshiki explains as they begin their walk through the less safe parts of town to get to his building. Ayumi seems to agree, considering she's staying close to his side. Sometimes their shoulders even bump, and if he just reached out a finger, even just his pinkie, he could touch her hand. He really wanted to hold her hand. 

Fuck it. He almost died today, he can take a little chance and try to hold her hand. Yoshiki carefully moves his arm closer, his fingers brushing against hers. He feels her hand twitch a little, but not pull away. He goes a little further, trying to slide his middle digit between the gap between two of her fingers. She doesn't move away or closer, almost keeping her hand especially still. 

Yoshiki glances over at the girl walking next to him. Ayumi is staring straight ahead, focusing very closely on the sidewalk in front of them. The red on her cheeks gives away her feelings though, and he guesses that she's embarrassed or shy or something. Cute. He moves his fingers more, trying to get her to move at all so he can slip his hand into hers. She still doesn't move. He glances over at her again, and is startled to find blue eyes looking back at him. The two share a look of surprise before pulling away from each other, Yoshiki stammering out some sort of conversation to avoid acknowledging the moment.   
"So uh, you jog often?" He scratches the back of his head, wincing a little when he feels a bump from where he was hit. Funny, he had forgotten about that, just accepting the pounding in his head as normal.   
"Oh, y-yeah. Sometimes. It was nice out today so I thought I would..." she furrows her eyebrows, looking over at him. "How did you know I jog?" Her tone wasn't quite accusing, but Yoshiki felt his heart drop into his stomach. 

"Oh, well um, y'see." He looks away, scratching the side of his chin while he thought up some excuse. "I saw you. While I was. Walking. Down the street. The same street you were on. Uh, clearly. I thought 'hey! What a coincidence!' So I wanted to say hey so I tried to catch up to you when you went into the alley and then well, yeah." He chews on his lip, hoping she believes him. 

"Uh huh..." Ayumi responds in that thoughtful tone she uses when she's not quite sure of something. Yoshiki bites down harder on his lip, scolding himself. He waited for her to call him out on a flaw in his story, but nothing came. Just silence. He worried that silence was worse. 

"I had thought I would take a new route, cuz changes in your usual schedule spice things up a bit. But then, I guess I got a bit too spicy." Ayumi sighed, looking dejected despite the humor in the comment. Yoshiki was just relieved that she said something other than calling him a liar or something.   
"Yeah, I was surprised to see you turn to this street too." Yoshiki commented, looking over at her. Her face was pensive for a moment, then she went back to just looking tired.   
"Well, I learned my lesson. Ha ha." She weakly laughed, smile fading immediately before she muttered something inaudible to herself in a bitter tone. Yoshiki doesn't say anything. 

The rest of the walk is pretty quiet, just Yoshiki saying where they were turning or how far was left and quiet hums of acknowledgment from Ayumi.   
"Hey, there's my building. See, the ugly grey one." He points it out and Ayumi looks a bit disgusted.   
"You live in there?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Huh. I usually go past it on my runs. I didn't think people actually lived in it, it's so run down." She looks up at it with a judging expression as they get closer. "What is that, concrete?" Yoshiki shrugs.   
"I'unno, I guess? Never really wondered what the walls were made out of. The inside is better, cmon." He leads her to the door, letting her through first. The lobby of the building was equally unremarkable as the outside, with a bland blue rug on the floor and a row of mailboxes with the white paint chipping off. 

"Wow." She comments, looking unimpressed. Yoshiki rolls with it.   
"I know right? Five stars." He says it overly enthusiastic and earns a little chuckle out of Ayumi as she covers her mouth.   
"Let's just get to your room." She says dismissively, walking towards the elevator. She hesitates before pressing the button. "This thing works, right?" She looks back at Yoshiki as he walks up to stand by her side, adjusting his cloth on his neck.   
"Yeah, use it all the time. Only heard about it getting stuck like, a couple times." His words are supposed to reassuring, but Ayumi still looks unsure.   
"Okay..." she presses the button and wrinkles her nose as the sliding doors squeal open.   
"Oh, yeah sorry it's kinda noisy too." Yoshiki adds, stepping into the elevator before her. She gives him a look that speaks for her. Her eyes were totally saying "you're such a dumbass" while she stepped in next to him. Yoshiki presses the buttons for his floor, and Ayumi glances over to remember it.   
14\.   
Huh. 

The elevator bumps to life, and Ayumi jumps, grabbing onto Yoshiki's arm without thinking. Yoshiki internally fist pumps as she hugs herself close to his arm.   
"It's not gonna fall, right? It's normal for it to bump around like- like bad turbulence?" She asks, still holding onto him. Yoshiki chuckles, using his free hand to pat her on the head, gently ruffling her hair. Sweaty, he notes, but still soft.   
"Don't worry, it's always like this. It's totally safe. It does move kinda slow though, so sorry." His words do make her feel better, and she loosens her grip on his arm, but still held on. 

"You know.." Ayumi speaks up after a moment. "You know there's a story..." she continues, sounding kind of spooked. "... that if you press certain buttons on the elevator in the right order..." she swallows thickly, gently digging her nails into Yoshiki's arm. "... that the elevator will take you to another world." 

Yoshiki laughs, definitely not the reaction she wanted.   
"Shinozaki, you seriously find the craziest stories and rumors. I love you. It. It's pretty great." He begs that she wouldn't notice and comment on his slip up. The gods, if there even are any, were merciful. 

"Oh, shush you. You're no fun. Mochida would've been so spooked!" She has a dreamy look on her face and Yoshiki feels his heart clench. The moment had been so nice and she just had to go and say that name, didn't she. He grits his teeth as she keeps talking, listening grumpily. "God, he jumps so high when he's scared! And it's the best when he falls over. If he was here, I bet he'd be quivering with fear at my story and holding onto me!" Yoshiki looks up at the floor counter above the door. 10. Dammit, move faster!   
"I could hold you." Yoshiki mutters bitterly. Ayumi doesn't even hear.   
"I've gotta tell him it sometime, definitely. I just need alone time and an elevator." She giggles, reveling in her fantasy. It makes Yoshiki feel a bit sick. 

Ayumi grips his arm tight again as the elevator comes to a grinding stop, shaking before it opens with a ding. As soon as the exit is there, Ayumi lets go and steps out.   
"Which one's yours, Kishinuma?" She starts down the hallway to the right of the elevator, looking at each nameplate at a time.   
"You'd be out here a long time if you try to look at each nameplate. I'm down this way at the end." Yoshiki nods his head to the left, walking down the hall to his apartment door. By the time he's unlocked it, Ayumi catches up with him. 

He steps inside, swinging his arm out to show off the bland room. Ayumi walks in, looking around.   
"Wow. It's so empty.." she wrinkled her nose in distaste, probably also smelling the unidentifiable odor that never goes away no matter how much Yoshiki cleans. She wasn't wrong about it being empty, the living room having only a crappy square television with a tan love-seat in front of it.   
"Yeah, I guess. But it works for me." He shrugs, kicking his shoes off.   
"It smells like sock." She comments, wiggling her feet out of her shoes as well. Yoshiki only agrees. 

He heads to his bedroom, the second door to the left of the kitchen area. Ayumi studies the kitchen as she passes it, noting that it wasn't as dirty as she thought it'd be. Still dirty, but not filthy. She continues into his bedroom, inspecting this room as well. There was a pile of dirty clothes in the corner across from the bed on the far left side of the room, a small desk to the far right, and a dresser against the wall next to the door. Aside from the clothes in the corner, there were other articles of clothing just laying around the room.   
"Sorry 'bout the mess. You can just step on it, I don't care." Yoshiki gives the halfhearted apology before hopping onto his bed, landing on his back while the mattress gave a plaintive groan. He sighs, closing his eyes with his limbs just sprawled out. 

Ayumi shuffles at the doorway, unsure what to do. Yoshiki was being entirely unhelpful, now idly poking at the cut on his cheek and wincing each time. Idiot.   
"You must not have very many guests." Ayumi comments leaning against the doorframe. He looks over at her, blinking in confusion.   
"Huh? How'd you tell?" He seems genuinely confused. Ayumi gives him this look like he's a total pea-brain, which he kind of is.   
"You haven't really tended to my needs, cleaned up, offered places I can go, what I can use. You just collapse into bed like you came back alone!" She crosses her arms, frustrated. Yoshiki sits up, tilting his head while scratching his chin in that dumb way he always does when he's confused.   
"Tend to your needs? What do you need?" The question is serious, and Ayumi sighs.   
"I need like, a shower, I feel disgusting." She mumbles the next part, playing with her hair. "A hug would be nice too." 

Ayumi looks back up when she hears the mattress creak, watching Yoshiki as he crosses the room towards her. She raises an eyebrow with a questioning hum as he steps closer to her personal space bubble. She takes a step backwards as he crosses into that space bubble.   
"What're y-" she doesn't finish her statement as her face is soon pulled against a bare chest. She feels like her cheeks are on fire. Yoshiki is in a similar position, arms wrapped around her gently but tight enough to hold her closer. His face too is beet red and his body tingles as her breathe hits his chest.   
"You said you wanted a hug." He tells her plainly, like it's no big deal.   
"Not from you!" Ayumi grumbled, but didn't make a move to get out. Her words hurt though, and Yoshiki kind of wanted to let go and tell her to go hug her own damn self if it was such a problem. 

Yoshiki is beyond surprised when he feels her arms actually wrap tightly around him as well, and when Ayumi nuzzled her face against his chest and breathed in, he thought he was having a heart attack.   
"You're all sweaty." She comments quietly, not sure what else she could say.   
"So're you." Yoshiki counters, raising an eyebrow. He earns a light headbutt against his chest, and honestly? He could die happy right now, that was so cute.   
"Just shut up and hold me." She responds, commanding tone mixed with those words making Yoshiki's head spin. He changed his mind, he didn't want to die now if she continues to do this shit. He wanted to stay alive and suck it all in like he needed it to survive. 

Yoshiki doesn't argue with her commands for continued hugging, leaning his head down to put his face close to the top of her head. She smelled so nice, faintly like flowery soap behind a more human scent. They stand there like that for a while before Ayumi shuffles back. He releases her and she pokes her fingers together nervously.   
"Can you show me to your bathroom?" She asks sounding so sheepish. Yoshiki just nods and takes her by the hand to the door between his bedroom and the kitchen. She doesn't object, loosely holding his hand back. 

His bathroom was as unremarkable as everything else in the entire property. Tile floors and walls, dust and dirt and hair collected into the corners of the room, a bathtub shower combo with a plain little mat in front of it. The toilet seat lid was up, as was the seat, and the sink had the essentials on it. Nothing that warranted much attention. Ayumi turns to face Yoshiki as they stand in the small room.   
"The cuts on your face and neck need to be cleaned." She says decisively.   
"Yeah, okay. Will you fix me up, doc?" Yoshiki gives her that weird look that's supposed to be some kind of puppy dog eyes but just makes him look like he has indigestion. Ayumi rolls her eyes.   
"Only if you stop making that face." She teases, putting the seat and lid down on the toilet so he could sit.   
"Is it weird lookin'?" He wonders, sitting down obediently as Ayumi opens the medicine cabinet/mirror over the sink.   
"Very." She responds, looking for what she needs. Some peroxide, a few cotton balls, and bandaids. Yoshiki raises his eyebrow at the chemical filled bottle as it was taken out, and Ayumi raises an eyebrow as well at how heavy it felt, like he never uses it.   
"Can't we just use the cream stuff and stick a bandaid on? Do we really even need that fizzy stuff?" He asks, looking suspicious. Ayumi shakes her head.   
"The peroxide is to kill the bacteria and stuff right away." She picks up the washcloth hanging on the rack, asking if she could use it. Yoshiki shrugs like whatever, not really caring about the cloth. 

After wetting the washcloth, Ayumi brings it to dab at the cut on Yoshiki's face. Each touch has him wincing, and the purple bruise starting underneath it gives a possible explanation to his pained reactions.   
"How hard did he hit you? Christ..." Ayumi continues dabbing gently at the cut, getting off the dried blood around it and dirt in it as much as possible.   
"I think I saw the light." Yoshiki responds, a joking tone. A look from Ayumi has him answering honestly. "Well, really it was hard enough that I really did see stars. But maybe that was because of my head getting hit before too? I dunno." He rubs his forehead, thinking being a bit too much for his state of tiredness. 

Ayumi finishes up the spot and cleans off the washcloth before setting it aside. She pulls out the peroxide bottle and gets a cotton ball wet with it. Yoshiki looks a little stiffer.   
"Are you afraid of peroxide?" Ayumi asks, raising an eyebrow. He scoffs in a totally fake way and she knows the answer. "Oh my god, you get into fist fights and knife fights and medical help is what's got you nervous?" She shakes her head, smiling. "Learn something new about you every day I see you." For some reason, Yoshiki's face heats up at that. 

The anticipation isn't long for Yoshiki as Ayumi savagely puts the fizzing chemicals onto his very sensitive cut and he grips his knees with his hands, muscles tight.   
"Fuuuuuuck it feels like my skin is being peeled apart by fire, or melted off in acid or some'n!" He whines. Ayumi doesn't like the complaints.   
"Stop griping about it or I'll put more on." She threatens, and Yoshiki shuts up immediately. 

When it stops fizzing, Ayumi looks over the cut, much less bloody but still red. She bites her lip, hoping that the chemicals worked. Yoshiki would probably punch her if he found out it did nothing to help. She searches the box of bandaids for one big enough to cover the cut, but none of them quiet fit the bill.   
"Hm. Do you have like, gauze?" She asks, turning to look at her patient as he nods his head.   
"Yeah, under the sink. 'S'not enough room in the cabinet." Ayumi follows his directions, pulling out a roll of gauze and a pair of scissors from the a plastic box marked "med-kit." She cut off a sizeable piece and stuck it on his face, making him wince.   
"Shit, Shinozaki, not so rough!" He complains, looking at her a bit annoyed. Ayumi apologizes quietly. She then instructs him to hold the material on his face while she pulled out some tape to keep it stable. When she was done, she stepped back and admired her handiwork. 

"Hm, not too shabby. You feel all- hey, stop peeling at the tape already, what are you, five? Ugh." She shakes her head like a parent scolding a child, and Yoshiki actually goes so far as to fold his hands in his lap. Ayumi raises an eyebrow at the obedience. She has a feeling nobody else could get him to behave so well. Meanwhile, Yoshiki just wanted to do what she told him. Sure he was beaten and bloody, but he had the love of his life in his bathroom cleaning up his wounds and worrying about him, he was on cloud nine. Further than that, cloud ten! He doesn't really understand the saying or the cloud thing though. 

Ayumi sighs, looking more hesitant. "Hm. Now we've got to take care of your neck." She frowns, reaching out to touch her tank top wrapped around the boy in front of her. He shoos her hand away.   
"Let me take it off, I tied it on." Yoshiki explains, not wanting to admit that he was nervous about her doing it too roughly and hurting him. 

When the fabric was unwrapped, the two could clearly see how much blood soaked into the shirt, even though it was already red.   
"Wow..." Ayumi says, concern written on her face as she looks at the cut. Yoshiki looks away, feeling oddly ashamed and vulnerable. 

Ayumi shakes off the initial emotion at seeing the cut and grabs the washcloth, getting it nice and wet to clean the blood around the wound. Yoshiki squeezed his eyes shut as she first touched his neck were the wet fabric, and even whimpered when she gently wiped around the wound. She looks at him with a worried expression, and he doesn't even need to look at her face to see it.   
"It's fine, keep going. Just. Sensitive." He mutters, swallowing. Ayumi nods, watching his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, suddenly feeling very odd. Somehow, as she continued to clean the blood up, the task felt somehow... intimate. She tried not to think about it. 

She continues to wipe around the neck and shoulders, cleaning up the blood that ran down from the actual cut. Yoshiki seemed tense, breathing oddly while she worked.   
"Stop being so stiff, you'll pull a muscle. It can't hurt that bad, I'm not even near your cut." She admonishes after a swipe across his neck seems to send a shudder through him.   
"Doesn't hurt." He mumbles, continuing to not look at her. She raises an eyebrow.   
"Really? You know you don't need to try to act all macho anymore, you can admit that it hurts."   
"No, I mean." He starts, shifting his position a little. "It just, doesn't hurt, okay?" His tone is a little harsh, surprising Ayumi. She looks up to see his eyes completely averted and his mouth pressed into a thin line, even the tips of his ears turning a little darker. It takes her a moment longer before she figures out what he's saying.   
"Oh. It... doesn't hurt. Does it-"   
"Tons of guys have sensitive necks! It's not weird, and besides you're touching it all soft and just- Just keep going and ignore me." Ayumi's eyes widen as Yoshiki seems to be actually genuinely embarrassed, and entirely at her mercy. The vulnerability she had been feeling washes away with this newfound information. Yoshiki just begs that this is over quickly, but he doesn't quite want it to stop either. 

"So you're saying this feels good, then?" She foregoes the washcloth, holding it in her other hand while she used the now free hand to place on his shoulder. Her thumb pressed in a bit and slid upwards slowly, stopping before she got near his cut. She never expected him to make that kind of noise. Ayumi looked back up at his face, and he was very diligently not looking at her. 

Meanwhile, Yoshiki Kishinuma was dying. Either her thumb was heavenly or he was just so starved for affection that a warmth flowed through him that felt like warm water from the shower flowing down his body after a hard day. He really didn't mean to make a noise though. It was some sort of cross between a content sigh and a needy whimper that he never would have wanted coming from his own mouth. 

Then, the terrible and merciless Ayumi does it again. For a moment, the blonde just loses his self control, his arm shooting up to grab her wrist and pull her closer so that they were face to face, eye to eye. Her eyes looked surprised and a little bit scared while his eyes held a sort of hunger in them. The moment seemed to last an eternity before Yoshiki came back to his senses, leaning back and turning his head away again, letting go of her arm with a little shove. It took a lot of effort not to smash his lips into hers right there. This was going to be tough.   
"Just, get done." He mumbles grumpily. Ayumi has to take a moment to pull herself together before putting her washcloth back to work.   
"Y-yeah." 

The silence hung in the air like smoke, suffocating and poisonous. Yoshiki idly thinks that he really could use a smoke right about now. Ayumi just focuses on the cut and does her best not to make him make anymore of those noises. 

The silence is finally broken as she washes the blood out of the cloth to minimize stains.   
"Alright, now for the harder part." She says, taking a deep breathe to sustain confidence. Yoshiki thinks to himself with amusement that if this situation got any harder like it was a few moments ago, something else would too. He knows enough to not dare say anything like that to her. 

Dumping the peroxide onto the cotton ball, she then returns to him. They share a look of worried anticipation.   
"I don't need to tell you this part isn't going to feel good." Ayumi forces a smirk, trying to cheer up the air around them. It seems to work as a smile cracks over Yoshiki's face.   
"No shit, Shinozaki." 

A few moments and a couple dabs of the cotton ball later, Yoshiki is very obviously clenching his teeth and fisting his hands into the fabric of his shorts. Ayumi looks at him with pity, his pained expression meets hers. She doesn't know what to do besides push the hair on his sweaty forehead to the side. The little gesture gets him to close his eyes, and soon he sits back mostly relaxed again.   
"If I could never have to deal with that experience again I would die a happy man." He sighs, rubbing his forehead while Ayumi bandages him up good. Yoshiki looks up at her as she stares down at her handiwork before he too starts examining himself.   
"Hey, not bad doc! Next time I get a cut or scrape I'll know to call you so you can play doctor again." He smiles, and Ayumi resists the urge to slap him on the empty side of his face.   
"Do not call it that." She says, folding her arms. "Do you even know the connotations of the phrase 'playing doctor??'" She questions, looking at him accusingly. He looks off to the side, scratching his chin.   
"Uh." His confused hesitation draws an annoyed sign from Ayumi.   
"It's like, a sex thing okay? So if you go and start telling people that we played doctor, you'll need a lot more than peroxide and gauze to put you back together." She gives him a threatening glare, and Yoshiki rolls his eyes.   
"Oh, sheesh. You know I wouldn't lie like that. And even if we did do something-"   
"Which we won't."   
"- if we did, the only person I'd talk to about it'd be Satoshi." 

The high pitched yelp Ayumi makes makes Yoshiki immediately realize he said That Name.  
"ESPECIALLY not him!!" She looks panicked a little, like he had just told her he was going to murder her puppy. He groans, standing up from the toilet. She takes a step back.   
"Jesus, chill out Shinozaki. I said I'd only say something like that if we did something like that. IF. Which you already assured me wouldn't be happening." She looks calmer from his words, and Yoshiki and his dumb mouth just has to go and keep talking.   
"Unless you've changed your mind, I mean I'd be fine with-" he finds himself cut off by little hands grab his shoulders and start pushing him out the door. He walks backwards with her lead, still with a shit eating grin on his face.   
"Ew! Get out, creep! Just, just go!" She yells, finally pushing him out the bathroom door before slamming it in his face. Yoshiki laughs, shaking his head.   
"You'll have to come out of the bathroom at some point!" He responds. There comes a few thuds from the door. Ayumi is tiredly bumping her head on the door. This realization just makes him laugh harder. 

It seems that his laughter annoys Ayumi more as the door cracks open just enough that she can start throwing cotton balls at him. They mostly wildly miss him, but a few bounce of his chest and face pointlessly. She's yelling something but he can't hear her over himself as he laughs even harder, tears coming out of his eyes. 

The door opens more and Ayumi stands there with one hand on her hip and the other on the door. It's obvious she's trying to look stern, but her mouth keeps twitching like she's trying to hold down a smile.   
"Geez, shut up already." She says, losing the battle against amusement as she laughs once, shaking her head. "It's not even that funny." Yoshiki tilts his head at her, having calmed down.   
"It's pretty funny." He disagrees with a smile, wiping the wetness away from his eyes. Ayumi scoffs and rolls her eyes, only jumping a little in surprise as a cotton ball hits her nose and falls to the floor at her feet. She blinks at the giggly bastard in front of her before the smile infects her face too.   
"Oh you did not just do that." She bends down to pick the fluffy ball back up and throw it back at him. 

That was it. The room soon turned into a war zone with cotton ball ammunition being picked up and thrown back and forth. The two laughed gleefully as they battled, the floor soon becoming littered with cotton. It didn't take very long for the teens to get tired, and their laughing died down to breathy giggles. Ayumi leaned down, holding herself up with her hands on her knees while she breathed, shoulders still bumping up and down with remnants of laughter. Yoshiki was close enough to pat her on the back when she coughed. She nodded thankfully before standing up straight again.   
"Man..." she panted a little, licking her lips quickly. "I really need a shower." Ayumi sighs, shaking her head with a remaining smile, lifting her arm to smell herself. She looks back away with a more grossed out look. "Ick, definitely." She then looks over at the guy beside her, just watching her like she was a graceful dancer even though she just sniffed her armpit and made an awful face. Ayumi thinks that she will just never understand this guy.   
"I'll grab you a towel. I'm sure you don't want to use mine." Yoshiki twists some of his hair between his fingers. She nods with a look like, obviously. 

As he goes in the bathroom to open the small linen closet, Ayumi starts picking up the cotton balls littered around the floor. She wonders if they were still usable or if they were dirty now. She figures that Yoshiki's floor is not the cleanest, so they should probably be trashed. Yoshiki tilts his head back out the door to ask if she needed anything besides a towel, but his voice is caught in his throat. The moment he looked out, Ayumi bent down with her back turned to him, and he marveled at just how short those shorts were. Any shorter and he wondered if he would see her underwear. She stands back up and turns to pick another cotton ball up and Yoshiki shoves his head into the closet, hiding his red face in the towel he grabbed for her. It smelled just a little musty, and that was enough to distract him from the smooth curve of her thighs up into her backside. 

"Kishinuma?" Ayumi's voice makes him jump, pulling his face back out of the towel and closet. Yoshiki turns to look at her and her curious face. "Whatcha doing?" She asked innocently, and he pulled out the grey towel in his hand and pointed at it instead of talking. Her eyebrow stayed raised but she took the towel with a "thanks." As she pushed his towel to the opposite side of the rack and placed hers on the side closest to the shower, he found his voice again. 

"You need anything else? I don't have any girl stuff, I dunno if you use anything different but-" he fiddled with his hands while thinking but Ayumi cut him off as she peeked into the shower.   
"Nah, looks like you've got everything normal. Hm, I always thought most boys didn't use conditioner." She thinks out loud, stepping back. Now it's Yoshiki's turn to raise an eyebrow.   
"Well, I don't see why they, we, wouldn't. How else do you think I get my hair all silky soft?" She gives him an incredulous look.   
"Is it really?" She questions blankly.   
"Silky. Soft." His response and serious expression pulls an amused snort from Ayumi as she shakes her head.   
"Okay okay. Turn it right for hot, right?" She asks, looking at the dial. Yoshiki gives a hum of confirmation. "Alright, cool. Um." She looks down, seeming hesitant. Yoshiki opens his mouth to ask what's wrong before she continues. "Thank you. For all this. I- you saved me, even though you could have walked away unharmed. You even bring me into your home and take care of me. Well, sort of take care of me. You could do better." She looks up with a little sly smile at the last bit before she looks serious again. "But I still appreciate it a lot. You're not a bad guy, Kishinuma." She looked up at him, a little sheepish still. Yoshiki smiled honestly, giving her a look that made her heart skip.   
"I'd do it again a thousand times for you." He says, reaching out and placing a hand on her head, petting softly. Ayumi looks up in stunned silence before she coughs and steps back.   
"Um, yeah. So. I'm gonna get cleaned up now, so, leave." She says kind of tersely, waiting for him to leave. Yoshiki gives her a cheeky salute before going out the door. Moments later he hears the water start running and he sighs, carding a hand through his hair.   
"How did you get here, man?" He asks himself under his breath as he looks at the door. Now that he wasn't right by her side, he had only the sound of the shower to reassure him that the past hour or so was real. 

Yoshiki goes back to his room, looking around at the clothes laying around his floor. He picks it all up, confining the mess to the laundry pile in the corner. He then flops down on his bed and it gives a tired groan from the springs. He closes his eyes thinking "me too buddy, me too." Then he has to reevaluate himself for talking to his bed.   
"I need sleep." He comments to himself with a yawn. His needs were met less than a minute later, and his aching mind and body got the rest it so deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should add Yoshiki's bed as a character. So far it's done the same thing I do all day, stay perfectly still until disrupted by an outside force, causing it to groan in annoyance.   
> As always please. Kudos and comments are appreciated. I must know that someone actually likes this and I'm not just sitting in a corner of ao3 muttering ominously about ayushiki like I do in the real world. I mean what.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of the day, Ayumi and Yoshiki actually spend some time getting to know each other better. Though, of course, their strengthening friendship comes with bickering and blushing alike. Really, the usual for these two but longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long! But due to popular demand, I finally finished the chapter I've had mostly written for ages now. I'm sorry for the hiatus, but persona 5 has been destroying my life. Anyway I hope you enjoy!

Blue.   
A sky of blue.   
Yoshiki stares up at this sky, feeling nothing. More specifically, nothing physically. The sky and color instilled deep emotion within him, almost to the point of bursting. 

And then there comes red. A deeper red, not especially angry or dangerous looking. Just red. It works its way into the blue, the cooler color seemed to crack around it like it was a ship breaking through ice. The red becomes a ship, a comical pirate ship with a big skull and crossbones flag. The skull looks more cute than frightening in its cartoonish style. Yoshiki looks around the boat, shapes of people passing him and disappearing like a shadow stepping into the darkness. What is the darkness like? 

The pitch blackness surrounds him and he is floating, unable to move forward but not frozen still. He reaches a hand out into the nothing, grasping for something he knows is there. He thinks a moment, asking himself how he knows. The black around him shatters and he falls, unable to make a sound. A shard of the black flies into him so fast he wouldn't see it coming if it were normal. This isn't normal, and his view changes to look down from above. The black slices through his neck cleanly, his head floating away as his body reaches out for it. 

Now Yoshiki is in his head, and he sees his desperately grasping body reach out for him. He wonders how he's supposed to move with no legs now. A primal fear strikes through him, making the entire world shake and go blank, nonexistent. There is one thing on his mind.   
How am I supposed to eat if I don't have a stomach?! 

A tasty looking donut with pink frosting comes into view, mocking him. Yoshiki sits down at the kitchen table in his parents' house, short legs kicking the wooden legs of the chair while he holds that yummy looking pink donut. The pink ones were super sweet. He takes a bite, and is immediately full. But it tastes so good he doesn't want to stop eating. He takes another bite and it's hard to swallow, and he starts feeling sick. Mechanically he eats a third big bite, turning the donut into a C shape. This last bite refuses to be swallowed, as if he really were filled to the brim. He throws up on the clean floor next to the chair. Angry footsteps from another room make him tense, bracing himself against- 

Wind blows in his face. He's on a hillside, looking out at the horizon with satisfaction. He felt perfectly at ease. He turns his head to look at the person beside him, and sees dirty walls and a crooked trash container, followed by a wavy man holding onto something he can't make out. The man seems to be intangible, body shifting and changing with a dark purple hue. The thing in his arms becomes clear. 

Yoshiki doesn't know the girl's name, but her face reminds him of something. He hears his own voice, but not from himself.   
"You let her go you filthy son of a-" 

The girl screams, sounding far away. Her voice doesn't sound too scared, considering. She yells out again, and Yoshiki starts falling. He reaches out in a panic, trying to grab onto anything to save himself. 

Yoshiki's fists clench in the sheets as he jolts awake, breathing heavily. Immediately he starts to forget what was going on in the dream. Another yell pulls him out of his still sleepy state and has him jumping up quickly and running towards the bathroom. Ayumi was calling out his name, but Yoshiki didn't have time to place what the tone might mean, thinking only that she was in trouble. 

Yoshiki swings the bathroom door open quickly, adding onto his list of mistakes he's made today. 

"Shino-"

"Eeeyyyaa!!" Ayumi screams scrambling to put a towel over herself. Yoshiki is just stunned for a second before he slams his eyes shut and closes the door just as quickly as he opened it. 

"Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry I didn't mean to, I swear! I didn't see anything! I'm sorry!" He apologized profusely, but Ayumi still seems righteously pissed. 

"What the hell were you thinking?? Barging in here like that and you knew I was naked!" She takes a breather from her high pitched shrieks that Yoshiki hoped wouldn't bother the neighbors. 

"I'm sorry! I thought you were in trouble or hurt or something, I just wanted to get to help you as fast as I could!" He slaps himself on the forehead and he kind of feels like his brain rattled around in his skull like a marble. 

"Well!" Ayumi huffs, still sounding angry but at least she wasn't screaming anymore. "It's good to know I've got such a diligent guard dog on my side, but that doesn't mean you get to be a horn dog too!" 

"Horn- oh come on! I told you it was an accident, I'm not some kinda pervert." He yells back, now Yoshiki being the one being loud and angry. 

Ayumi is strangely silent after that, before he hears a scoff. 

"Whatever. You can come in if you really need to now, I'm decent." Her voice still sounds pissy but much softer. Yoshiki's anger is replaced with confusion. 

"But aren't you still naked under the towel?" He asks honestly and is even more surprised. 

"Kishinuma, you know that under our clothing, everyone is naked, right?" Her comment sounds philosophical to him. 

"Oh." He comments, his world being turned around. He opens the door and steps inside, shutting it behind him. He watches Ayumi's face heat up. 

"I didn't say to come in all the way." She grumbles, reaching over to punch him in the arm. 

Yoshiki takes a look at her now. Her hair was still drippy, and his eyes followed a droplet of water as it runs down her shoulder, only for her to scratch the spot it was tickling on her skin and get rid of it. She was clutching the towel wrapped around her like a dress tightly to her chest, knuckles white with how hard she was holding on to keep it from falling. Then he is stunned out of his observation by a flick on his nose. 

"Hey, pervert scum, my eyes are up here. " Ayumi has a scowl on her face when he looks up at her and honestly he doesn't have an argument that he wasn't checking her out. He still tries anyway. 

"I'm not scum. I was staring at you in a different way than a pervy way." This earns a raise of Ayumi's eyebrows. 

"Oh really. How?" She challenges, and Yoshiki looks off to the side and scratches the side of his chin in thought and in shame. 

"It's not pervy if you look at artwork. There's all kinds of famous paintings more suggestive than you in a towel." He feels a bit proud of himself and confidently looks back at Ayumi, only to be surprised once again. Her face is stuck in a stunned silence with a dusting of crimson over top. His confusion seems to snap her out of it. 

"Whatever. Just. Let's get to the point." He was still confused, but accepted as she moved on. "We're both kind of dumb on this one. I don't have any clean clothes to wear." Ah. He feels like a dunce, as much as she was probably feeling. 

"I could lend you some of mine." He suggests and is surprised when she agrees instead of telling him it was gross and a bad plan. 

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Oh, and um." She fiddles with her wet hair with her free hand. "I.... ugh fuckit there's no getting around this." She mumbles before looking up into his eyes with confidence. "I need fresh underwear too. Do you have anything that would fit." Her voice is monotone and quick, said all in one breath before she looks away. 

Yoshiki, meanwhile, is having trouble staying on his feet when he goes lightheaded. Was she serious?

"You. Want to wear my underwear." He states it back in disbelief, and she nods slowly as she doesn't look at him. 

"I know, I don't like it either but I need something there or else I'll just be uncomfortable. Of course I'll probably be uncomfortable in your underpants too so." She sighs and waves her hand at him in a shooing motion. "Now go, just go. Get me some clothes and bring them here while I finish drying off." 

Yoshiki nods dutifully and hurries out of the bathroom to scour his drawers for a clean pair of drawers. He isn't a religious man but he prays that he actually has clean underwear, and he won't have to give her one from the pile. He sighs in relief when he finds a pair of tight briefs that he only ever wears when necessary, seeing as they were too tight for his liking. Perfect. He grabs one of his sleeveless shirts and a pair of shorts with a tie to tighten the waist and brings them to the door, knocking. 

"I got your stuff." He calls through the door and it cracks open enough for an arm to stick out. He hands over the clothes and the arm withdraws and the door shuts quickly. A moment passes before he hears a voice inside saying thank you.

Yoshiki takes a few slow breathes to calm down. The task is finished and he can relax now. Until she comes out and is wearing his clothes. Maybe he can't quiet relax yet. Still, he returns to his room and sits down on his bed, picking a little at the tape on his cheek like she yelled at him for earlier. He stops when he hears the bathroom door open. 

And there she is. Ayumi steps into his doorway slowly, head bowed down to look at the floor and her hands fisted in the waistband of the pants. Yoshiki stares in stunned silence for a moment as she walks into his room further, letting one hand off her loose shorts to brush hair off her shoulder. 

"Damn Shinozaki. Just damn." Yoshiki comments, stupefied and a little turned on. Ayumi looks over at him, shooting a glare in his direction even as her voice still sounds sheepish. 

"What?" Her tone is a little accusing, even as she shuffles her feet and curls a little more in on herself like she's embarrassed. 

"Nothin', just sayin' you look really good in my clothes." Yoshiki responds honestly, too stunned by his fantasy actually coming true to think about what he's saying. Ayumi gives him a look as stupefied as he looked moments earlier. 

"You- y- you don't just say things like that! You're the worst!" She crosses his room just to slap him on the arm. "The!" She slaps him again. "Worst!" And a third time. Yoshiki catches her arm before she can throw in a fourth and holds her still. She doesn't struggle but still looks grumpy. "The worst." She repeats, mumbling. 

"Oi, you might hurt feelin's with such strong language there Shinozaki." Yoshiki lets go of her arm with a mocking smirk. 

"Ugh, shut up." She hikes the shorts up again, adjusting herself in them with a grimace. "Your shorts are too loose." 

"There's a drawstring for em." Yoshiki points out, attempting to show her physically where it was before she just smacks his hand away. 

"No self restraint." She mutters before tugging on the string visibly. Nothing happens. "Either your pants are as broken as your bank account or this string is just for show." She drops it and pulls her pants up again. Yoshiki shakes his head, sitting up. 

"Nah, nah. You must be pulling it wrong." 

"I'm not pulling it wrong!" 

"It's probably just tangled or stuck on something. Lemme see." He leans forward again and she smacks him away again. 

"What is wrong with you?" She yells, angry and in disbelief that he would keep doing that after she smacked him the first time. He gives her a little "I dunno" smile that has her rolling her eyes. "Can you just get me different pants and I'll go change?" Yoshiki groans and lays back on his pillow. 

"The dresser is right over there, look in the second drawer." He pointed lazily across the small room. Ayumi grumbles but just goes over instead of wasting her time trying to argue. 

Yoshiki closes his eyes as she shuffles around in his drawer and makes many dissatisfied noises. He doesn't care that she was judging his clothes, if she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to wear it. He snorts in amusement at imaging her reaction if he actually told her that. 

"Kishinuma, none of these are gonna fit me. Why are your hips so damn wide?" 

"Hey don't blame me for your flat ass." He replies, raising an eyebrow as he looks over at her. She gasps with a hurt expression before glaring at him. 

"Hey! I'll have you know my ass is NOT flat! Maybe you're just too fat!" She yells back, clenching both fists at her side, letting go of holding up the shorts in her anger. They stay up, but sit low on her hips. His momentary satisfied look on his face as he watches her has her shaking her fists. "Why are you looking at me like that! Stop!! What do you have to say for yourself? It better be good or else I will END you!" Her threat isn't so threatening when's she's pulling her shorts back up and shuffling around. He just gives a little breathy "hah." She glares at him until he answers. 

"Oh don't worry, I was just kidding." He assures her, before closing his eyes with a smug look. "I know you've got a nice ass." A millisecond of silence. 

"Y- wh- I-" she stutters, and he doesn't need to look at her to know how red her face is right now. His smile grows in anticipation of the explosion he knows is coming next. He never has to wait long. 

"YOSHIKI KISHINUMA I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" He opens his eyes just in time to see her running at him with a pair of sweatpants in each hand. He covers his face in time as she thwaps him mercilessly, double wielding the pants like they were whips. Yoshiki is just glad she didn't pick up jeans. 

The laughter from the boy continues even as he is under attack, and Ayumi just keeps hitting him. Each word is emphasized with a slap of the pants, doing basically nothing.   
"I! Hate! You!" She finishes her assault off with one more smack for good measure. "You asshole!" Finally safe from pant-to-face damaged Yoshiki lowers his arms while still snickering, laughter dying down. Ayumi looked spent, panting from the exertion of the attack, yet she still kept that stern look. 

"How can you be laughing right now? I hate you!" The words have less energy behind them. Yoshiki just shrugs. 

"Sorry, Shinozaki. You're so easy to tease." She slits her eyes in a glare so much that she might as well just close them. 

"What, do you like pissing people off? Do you enjoy people getting angry?" 

"As much as you enjoy scaring people?" He counters, and she looks a little taken aback before crossing her arms, her bottom weaponry dropped on the floor now. 

"I don't hurt feelings." She responds coldly. 

"No, you just humiliate them in front of their friends." He answers right back in the same tone. She looks at a loss for words before shaking her head. 

"At least it's still better than insulting a person to their face and laughing about it!" She shouts in his face, leaning in close before turning away with a "hmph!" Yoshiki sits up, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Hey, Shinozaki, I really am sorry now. I was just poking fun." She draws her shoulders up as her head bows down. The shorts sitting low on her hips is just as nice looking from the back, he sees. But forget about that, he couldn't be inappropriate right now. 

"Yeah, well maybe you poked a little too hard." She responds with quiet anger. When he hears a sniffle, he's on his feet and directly beside her in seconds, standing just a little back. He places his hand on her shoulder and she doesn't pull away so he leaves it there. 

"Hey, hey. Shinozaki, c'mon. Don't start crying, I don't know how to deal with that!" He pleads, failing at consoling already. 

"Well I'm already crying so too fucking bad for you then." She speaks quietly, but he can still hear the obvious anger. He sighs, looking down. 

"Yeah... uh. Okay look, I'm gonna level with you here. Believe it or not but I haven't dealt with very many people more than being schoolyard friends before recently, so I'm kind of a bonehead." He starts, and she mocks him saying "kind of." He continues. "But I really didn't want to hurt you badly, I swear. Just wanted to rile you up a bit is all, you're cute when you're angry." She sighs in annoyance. 

"Quick tip: girls don't like it when you call them cute while they're angry. It belittles their feelings and makes me think like what I say doesn't matter to you." She switches from a generalization without noticing, and Yoshiki's heart seems to sigh. 

"Of course it matters to me, dude I love talking to you! Even when you're pissed or upset." He rubs little circles on her shoulder with his thumb in a way he hopes is comforting. She seems to like it well enough, relaxing her muscles. 

"You just called me dude." Her tone is a little confused. Yoshiki sighs, now his turn to be a little annoyed. 

"Jesus Christ, start spilling my guts out and all you care about is one word." He shakes his head. 

Ayumi sighs in defeat, finally looking at him. She still looks obviously upset. It breaks Yoshiki's heart. 

"I cared about more than that..." she mumbles, looking away just as their eyes meet. He smiles a little, reaching up to ruffle her mostly dry hair.

"Yeah I know." He puts his hand back on her shoulder and pulls her back towards his bed where he sits down. She looks at him in confusion until he pats the spot next to him. Once she's sat down, he bounces his leg on the floor anxiously. "Hey, do you wanna tell me what I said bothered you? I don't wanna say it again." She smiles at his honest tone, and fiddled with the useless drawstring on her shorts. 

"It's more just everything and the way you said it. Sometimes I just feel so safe around you." His heart leaps. "But sometimes I'm afraid you're going to try and, like, try somethin'..." she trails off, uncertain. His heart sinks. 

"Try something? You don't mean-" her lip wobbles and his eyes widen. "Oh. Oh! No, Shinozaki, no I would never take advantage of you like that! I tease and I flirt and I cross boundaries sometimes but I would never go that far. Cross my heart and hope to be buried alive!" Ayumi looks over at him and the look in his eyes makes her feel like she can trust him. She sighs. 

"I know. I just worry. The way you look at me sometimes feels so, so intimate that I don't know what to do." A look into his face again and she has to smirk a little, shaking her head. "You're doing it right now." 

Yoshiki sits back and pokes around his face, trying to figure out what she meant. 

"Shit, am I? I'm sorry I don't know what my face does." 

"It's more your eyes." 

"I don't know what they do either. I just look at you and I just, I dunno, feel really good." He shrugs, his leg jiggles now shaking the bed a bit. Ayumi doesn't seem to care. 

"What do you see in me? I'm just unremarkable and plain." She pouts and Yoshiki wants to grab that lip between his teeth and pull her closer. He pushes the thought away, reaching over and brushing the hair out of her face before turning her head to face him with a commanding hand on her cheek. 

"Don't say that." He says, looking over her worried expression. It physically pains him that he can't kiss all that worry on her face away. "You're not plain or unremarkable, you're like a burning candle in a dark room. When you're around, I can hardly look at anything but you." She looks more and more worried, and confused. He tries not to think of that as a bad sign. 

"Why are you saying this? Do you really mean it?" Ayumi asks, voice sounding so small. He leans forward and bumps his forehead against hers and he sees her eyes flick down and back up quickly. Then she bites her lip and it's everything he can do to stop himself from leaning forward and closing that tense gap between them. 

"I mean every word. As for why, well, you asked me what I saw in you. I summarized or else we'd be here for three days." Ayumi blinks, and he watches tears form in her eyes before she pulls away, covering her face with both hands. Stunned and worried, Yoshiki scoots closer and puts his hand on her back. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Are you okay?" She responds to these questions with finger pointing up indicating she needed a second. He waits. 

"Sorry, it's just, no one has ever said anything like that to me before. It's a bit much..." she sniffles, rubbing her nose with her hand. Yoshiki moves his hand on her back to try and soothe her, rubbing around in a smooth circle. 

"Do you like it?" He asks, wondering if she hated affection. Now that would be a real problem. Ayumi nods and relief courses through him. 

"It's just a bit overwhelming right now. Can we talk about something else?" She looks at him again with a plea in her eyes. He nods of course, and moves his hand off her back to lean back on his elbows on the bed. Almost immediately his aura changed from intimate to casual. 

"Yeah, 'course. What do you want to talk about?" Yoshiki asks, watching her as she pulls her legs up onto his bed and turns to face him, folding her legs up pretzel style. 

"I dunno. Stuff." Ayumi looks just as at a loss as himself, and he chuckles a little. Her eyes narrow. 

"What?" The stern question makes him shake his head, still smiling. 

"No I was just thinking, here we are, a couple of idiots sitting around and talking with nothing to talk about." She pokes a foot out of her pretzel and kicks his leg before returning it to its folded place. 

"I only see one idiot." Ayumi smirks, the mirth returning to her voice. She then blinks a couple times in realization. "Huh. I just noticed you've been shirtless all this time haven't you? Why?" 

"Why not? It's comfy and free and I'm less hot than if I was wearing one." Yoshiki sits up on his knees as well to face her. She shrugs. 

"That is a good point. If I were a guy I don't know if I'd be so bold." There is a strange admiration in her voice that has Yoshiki smiling proudly. 

"Yeah, but I mean, I'm just with you so I don't feel weird or self conscious at all. And it's different I guess if you grow up without being constantly reminded that your chest is different and must be hidden." He bounces on his legs a little, relaxed. The bed creaks a little each time and Ayumi wonders how he can stand sleeping in this thing. 

"Yeah, that's true. And you really don't? Hm, you usually don't have much shame, do you." She brings her finger up to her chin thoughtfully. He shrugs again. 

"Guess not. You criticize me a lot for it, so I guess it's true. I don't really know much about it though. It's hard to remember all the things I'm supposed to be more self conscious about." 

Ayumi smiles a warm and honest smile that has Yoshiki's heart doing this little stutter thing that makes him feel like falling over. There is silence between the two of them, and he feels like he should say something but he isn't sure what he could say. As soon as he opens his mouth tough, Ayumi starts talking. 

"Thank you for earlier." She says quietly, looking away though she keeps the warm look on her face. Yoshiki tilts his head. 

"Yo, you don't need to keep thanking me, I told you that." He responds, and she shakes her head. 

"No I mean, specifically. When that man had me and he- when I was- but you didn't look. You closed your eyes." Her nervous stuttering makes Yoshiki want to pull her into a hug and tell her she can say anything that she ever feels needs to be said. "Why didn't you look?" She raises her eyes again, looking right into his. He holds the contact. 

"I couldn't do that to you." Yoshiki responds. "I didn't want to see you like that in that way." Ayumi sniffs a little and looks almost worried. 

"What do you mean?" 

"If I'm going to see you, I want it to be on your terms." He reaches a hand out and picks up a bit of her hair, mostly dry but still a bit cool from dampness. "I want you to want me to see." He watches as her face heats up in red before she jerks away suddenly. 

"I didn't think you'd be such a gentleman." The words sting and Yoshiki doesn't bother trying to hide it. When she looks at him again, Ayumi frowns apologetically. "No, I didn't mean- oh, I'm sorry..." she sighs, looking down. "I always just figured boys would take what they could get even if it wasn't exactly handed to them. I wouldn't have blamed you if you did look at me, but the fact that you didn't is nice." Her explanation doesn't make him feel much better, but Yoshiki sucks it up. 

"Yeah, well, don't mention it. It's nothin'." He forces a smile and she reciprocates with her own smile. After a long moment of just staring at each other, Ayumi turns away and yawns. Yoshiki can see her eyeing up his bed, and a more honest smirk spreads across his face. Honest, but suggestive all the same. "You wanna lay down?" 

"Don't say it like that, creep." She glares at him, then looks away. "... I should get going home before it gets dark." He hears something that sounds like disappointment in her voice, which is a ridiculous notion. Yoshiki frowns, not hiding his own disappointment. 

"Yeah, pro'lly a good idea. I'll walk you back." He stands up, walking over to his dresser to grab himself a shirt. He hears his bed creak as Ayumi stands up, and a small groan as she stretches. Yoshiki turns to her after he pulls his tshirt over his head, careful not to rip the bandage off his face or mess with the one around his neck. She gives him a small smile before heading out of his room towards the living room. He follows after a moment, and they leave the apartment in silence, walking down the street in the same way. Yoshiki doesn't need Ayumi's directions to her house, knowing a way faster than even she knows. When they turn onto her street, she stops him. 

"Wait." Ayumi looks down, a hand on his chest. Yoshiki raises an eyebrow, though he's already sure what she's going to tell him. He stops her before she can say it. 

"Yeah, no, I understand. I'll head back now so you go in alone." He smiles, ruffling her hair. "We should do this again sometime, with less getting beat up in an alley." He turns and waves as he starts walking away. He never expected Ayumi to rush after him, grabbing his wrist with a repetition of her previous order. 

"Wait. That's not-" Ayumi sucks in a breath, looking up at him with an intensity in her eyes. Yoshiki blinks down at her in surprise. "Just, next time you try and stalk me, make it less obvious." She smirks devilishly at his horrified expression. "Or you can just, you know, talk to me." 

"How did you-?" Yoshiki gapes at her, totally baffled. Ayumi rolls her eyes. 

"You thought you were being slick, didn't you. You think I wouldn't find it suspicious that you happened to be in the area around me so often? Or that I wouldn't be able to see you casually hiding behind a vending machine." She shakes her head. "Such a dumbass." 

Then she does something unthinkable. Ayumi Shinozaki stands up on her toes and leaves a little kiss on the side of Yoshiki's face before turning around and heading into her house. 

"See you again sometime, Kishinuma!" She calls over her back as she walks away from the stunned boy. 

Yoshiki stands there for what had to be over five minutes before snapping out of his stupor as a grin spreads across his face. He jumps into the air with a fist pump and ecstatic yell before running back to his apartment feeling more energetic than ever before. 

Meanwhile, Ayumi manages to get into her room before anyone notices her clothes and faceplants into her bed with a soft scream into her pillow. She asks her self what is wrong with her, since there _must_ be something wrong for her to do something like that. Still, the fluttering in her chest and the tingle in her lips left her feeling uncontrollably giddy despite herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day these two will get together, I swear, one day. Even if only in fan fiction. It's eternally canon in my mind at least. Anyways thanks for reading and comments and kudos are so apreciated and fuel me so much! Thank you to everyone who left comments on the last chapter too, that was nice c:

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudos or a comment you liked this! Even maybe vaguely enjoyed reading this and want to see more interactions between these nerds outside of a cursed school. Instead they face the horrors of the cruel world. But yes still please I need validation or i perish !! No pressure though, I won't force you to click that simple little kudos button. Or write up even the shortest of comments.


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